news from ekklesia

news from ekklesia

Jordan's king has told the Archbishop of Canterbury that Israel's presence in Jerusalem has prompted many Christian Arabs to leave the city.

"Christian Arab existence in Jerusalem is being threatened because its Arab population is emigrating in view of the Israeli occupation of the holy city," said Abdullah II, according to the official Petra news agency.

Petra said Rowan Williams, world leader of the Anglican Church, listened to Abdullah's views on the issue during a meeting at a royal palace in Amman.

Williams, who arrived in Jordan on Sunday, is on a regional tour which will take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In a sermon on Monday, Williams urged his Anglican congregation at Amman's Episcopal Church to follow the example of Jesus Christ in "building bridges into the suffering of another" and in living at peace with themselves and others in their community.

"We are able at last to recognize that evil is not somewhere out there in the stranger, the enemy, but in our own hearts," he said at the service attended by royal family members and leaders of other Christian communities.

Christians make up an estimated 6 percent of Jordan's 5.1 million population, with the rest of the population Muslim. The royal family also is Muslim.

Williams told that Christians are leaving Jerusalem

-28/1/04

Jordan's king has told the Archbishop of Canterbury that Israel's presence in Jerusalem has prompted many Christian Arabs to leave the city.

"Christian Arab existence in Jerusalem is being threatened because its Arab population is emigrating in view of the Israeli occupation of the holy city," said Abdullah II, according to the official Petra news agency.

Petra said Rowan Williams, world leader of the Anglican Church, listened to Abdullah's views on the issue during a meeting at a royal palace in Amman.

Williams, who arrived in Jordan on Sunday, is on a regional tour which will take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In a sermon on Monday, Williams urged his Anglican congregation at Amman's Episcopal Church to follow the example of Jesus Christ in "building bridges into the suffering of another" and in living at peace with themselves and others in their community.

"We are able at last to recognize that evil is not somewhere out there in the stranger, the enemy, but in our own hearts," he said at the service attended by royal family members and leaders of other Christian communities.

Christians make up an estimated 6 percent of Jordan's 5.1 million population, with the rest of the population Muslim. The royal family also is Muslim.